Maryland Casinos Fail To Break Monthly Revenue Record Again

Written By Derek Helling on July 8, 2021
Maryland June casino revenue

Breaking a record for monthly win is hard to do. Doing it twice in a three-month span? Difficult. Completing such a feat three times in four months proved to be an order too tall, as Maryland June casino revenue couldn’t meet, much less surpass, the prior month’s standard.

Altogether, the six Maryland casinos recently reported more than $161.4 million in hold last month. That figure isn’t too shabby depending on context. For one thing, traditionally June isn’t a banner month for casinos across the nation.

More details on the Maryland June casino revenue this year

That $161.4 million represents a drop of about $11 million or 6.4% month-over-month. However, May’s $172.4 million in casino revenue was a record for MD casinos. It beat out the previous and short-lived record of $169.2 million set in March of this year.

Altogether, the six licensees paid more than $67.6 million in taxes to the state in June. All of those figures are down in a month-to-month comparison. For example, tax revenue came out to about $73.4 million in May 2021. A breakdown by facility shows which casinos did best for the month:

FacilitySlots WinTable Games WinTotal Win
MGM National Harbor$36.1 million$27.6 million$63.7 million
Live! Casino & Hotel$40.3 million$18.1 million$58.4 million
Horseshoe Baltimore$11.6 million$5.4 million$17 million
Ocean Downs Casino$7.9 million$0.9 million$8.8 million
Hollywood Casino Perryville$6.7 million$1 million$7.7 million
Rocky Gap Resort Casino$5.1 million$0.7 million$5.8 million
Totals$107.7 million$53.7 million$161.4 million

Again, reaching the heights of May would have proven difficult. Additionally, whether these numbers are disappointing or not depends entirely on your frame of reference.

MD casino industry still very healthy

Last June, COVID-19 pandemic restrictions shuttered all six casinos. Thus, a year-over-year comparison is worthless. To get an idea of how last month’s numbers compare to a similar month, it’s necessary to go all the way back to June 2019.

Those figures tell a different story about the totals from June 2021. The $161.4 million that was a 6.4% drop in a month-over-month comparison turns into a gain of about 13% when compared to June 2019’s $142.9 million in revenue.

Accordingly, tax revenue for the state is up this year as well. In June 2019, licensees paid $60.1 million. In fact, only one of the six casinos failed to beat its numbers from June 2019. That was Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, which reported $18.7 million in win for June two years ago.

Looking at the year-to-date numbers shows that the six casinos are doing better than they were in 2019 as well. Through June of this calendar year, the revenue total is $920.1 million. The same facilities produced just $877.4 million in January-June of 2019. That’s an uptick of about 4.7%.

June can be a horse of a different color

When looking at numbers from June in the casino business as a rule of thumb, it’s important to remember the environment. June is typically when school terms end, meaning some casino regulars now have child care duties that will keep them away. Additionally, funds and time get diverted to other causes such as summer activities and vacations.

June of this year’s numbers also had a unique element because, for part of the month, COVID-19 avoidance restrictions were still in place. Casinos weren’t free to return to their normal capacity limits until June 17. Horseshoe’s mask requirements persisted throughout the entire month in accordance with Baltimore’s local policy.

Despite those restrictions, five of the six properties still beat out their same-month numbers from two years ago, and the annual figures are up by four percentage points.

Running a casino in Maryland isn’t too shabby of a business to be in.

Photo by Dreamstime / Gilbert Keuten
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Derek Helling

Derek Helling is a lead writer for PlayUSA and the manager of BetHer. He is a 2013 graduate of the University of Iowa and covers the intersections of sports with business and the law.

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